Charleston, South
Carolina has been transformed over the past thirty years from a dowdy maiden
aunt of a city dying in its old lace and dreams of better times past to an
increasingly vibrant dame torn between saving its opulent past and its modern
future. One of the nation's richest colonial cities, it was also one of
the most ethnically diverse with not only the requisite number of English
Settlers, but thousands of French Huguenots (many of whom were actually Iberian
Jewish refugees hiding among this tolerant group), Germans, Irish, and one of
the largest free African-heritage populations in the American South. The
result was a rich cultural stew which created one of the most vibrant cultural
mixes along the colonial eastern seaboard. (left-- South Battery pen and
ink)